Video: Ron Oremland discusses arsenic

December 21st, 2010 by Greg, Information & Restoration SpecialistcloseAuthor: Greg, Information & Restoration SpecialistName: Greg ReisTitle: Information & Restoration SpecialistAbout: Since his Committee internship in 1995, Greg has been involved with Mono Basin stream restoration and with maintaining the Committee's computers, websites, and research library, and researching and compiling information for our programs. His BS degree from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in Forestry & Natural Resources with a concentration in Environmental Management and a senior project in Hydrology reflect his interests in natural resources management, watershed management, and habitat restoration. He is a member of the California Society for Ecological Restoration and he also works for the Rivers & Delta Program of The Bay Institute.See All Posts by Greg (182)Contact Greg

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GFAJ-1 bacteria.

Ron Oremland with the US Geological Survey has been studying elements and microbes in Mono Lake for a long time. Staff with the Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Reserve and the Mono Lake Committee have been in contact with him in order to help the interpretive partnership at Mono Lake (National Forest Scenic Area, State Natural Reserve, and Mono Lake Committee) develop interpretive materials to explain NASA’s arsenic bacteria discovery to the public. You can read 24 scientific papers on arsenic and Mono Lake that he gave us permission to post on the Mono Basin Clearinghouse.

Ron is an entertaining speaker—even when talking about microbes! For those interested in the details of arsenic in the context of Mono Lake, you can watch an engaging, and at times quirky, and sometimes just wacky 1.5 hour presentation by Ron below:

For those without an hour and a half to spend watching a presentation about arsenic, I’ll recommend some highlights to fast-forward to:22:54—slide comparing arsenic concentration, salinity, and pH for Crowley, Walker, Big Soda, Mono, and Searles Lakes31:00—slide comparing properties of water from Mono Lake to red and green hot pools found adjacent to Mono Lake1:08:00—movie showing Mono Lake’s arsenic bacteria alive and moving around under a microscope